Forbes informed Ross that they wer removing him from their elite Forbes 400 list after discovering the 79-year-old investor’s real worth last month. (Win McNamee/Getty Images)

Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross has been booted of the Forbes 400 list after the magazine found he's been greatly exaggerating his wealth for over a decade — and isn't really a billionaire.

Ross has less than $700 million in assets, despite claiming more than $2 billion in trusts for his family that were not listed in financial disclosure forms filed after his nomination to President Trump's cabinet, according to a new report by Forbes magazine.

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Forbes informed Ross that they were removing him from their elite Forbes 400 list after discovering the real worth of the 79-year-old investor last month.

A year earlier, Forbes listed Ross' net worth at $2.9 billion, a number he protested was far too low.

Asked about the trusts, Ross, who had been on the magazine's list of the world's richest people for 13 years, cited "privacy issues."

Forbes reported that the claim led the magazine to dive into Ross' finances — and they discovered that the money never existed.

"It seems clear that Ross lied to us, the latest in an apparent sequence of fibs, exaggerations, omissions, fabrications and whoppers that have been going on with Forbes since 2004," according to the publication.

"In addition to just padding his ego, Ross' machinations helped bolster his standing in a way that translated into business opportunities."

"Everyone that I knew that worked with Wilbur knew it wasn't true," a former colleague told the business magazine about his net worth.

The revelation comes on the heels of the publication of the so-called "Paradise Papers," a trove of seven million documents belonging to the Bermuda-based law firm Appleby.

The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists shared the documents, detailing the offshore holdings of the ultrawealthy, with news organizations worldwide.

According to the papers, Ross holds an interest in Navigator Holdings, a shipping firm with connections to a Russian energy company run by Putin's son-in-law.

Ross did not mention the company during his confirmation hearings or on his disclosure forms.

On Monday, Ross told Bloomberg News he was selling off his share of the shady shipping firm.

"I've been actually selling it anyway, but that isn't because of this," Ross said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.

Ross is also selling off his remaining interests in a separate shipping firm that has raised ethical questions, according to the Center for Public Integrity.